When Consort Liang saw this scene, her mind went blank for a moment.
She practically tumbled and crawled to Princess Jingyue's side, her hands trembling as she embraced the princess, kowtowing and begging for mercy before Emperor Guangqi.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I beg you, in consideration of all these years, I have borne you children and taken care of you with great care, please spare Jingyue!"
She wept uncontrollably, all her usual arrogance and domineering nature vanishing in that moment:
"You've doted on Jingyue for so many years, and now you want to demote her and send her to a temple? How is that any different from taking her life?"
As Consort Liang spoke, she kowtowed to the Emperor repeatedly, hoping to gain some of his pity.
She even banged her head until it bled.
"You may depose me or demote her to a commoner, but please let her stay by my side. Just like keeping another cat or dog in the palace. I beg you..."
But Emperor Guangqi's stern face showed no emotion. He slightly raised his hand and ordered his men to drag away the weeping Consort Liang and the unconscious Princess Jingyue.
They showed absolutely no mercy.
As Consort Liang was being roughly dragged away, she still pleaded, "Jing Yue is so beautiful, what do you think will happen if she goes to a Buddhist temple outside...?"
"Your Majesty...Your Majesty, I am willing to exchange my life for Jingyue's life!"
Even after Consort Liang's people disappeared, her desperate pleas could still be heard.
Upon hearing this, Consort Zhen lowered her eyes slightly, her face seemingly expressionless.
The emperor reassured the empress dowager: "Mother, there will be absolutely no problem with the Buddhist temple you arranged. Consort Zhao is overthinking it."
After saying this, he looked in Song Xizhi's direction and gave him a slight smile: "Since the Empress Dowager has granted Song Xizhi this favor, then I will bestow upon him the title of Muren, Princess Muren. Now kneel down to express your gratitude."
Song Xizhi obediently knelt before the Empress Dowager, mechanically kowtowing to express his gratitude.
Jingyue and Consort Liang's current predicament is entirely their own doing, but Song Xizhi felt neither pride nor joy at this moment; instead, he felt inexplicably sorrowful.
The most ruthless family is the imperial family.
Princess Jingyue and Consort Liang were both arrogant and domineering, committed all sorts of evil deeds, wantonly humiliated others, and even tried to disregard the law and treat human life as worthless. They were truly heartless.
But weren't the Empress Dowager and the Emperor equally heartless?
The one who spoiled Princess Jingyue in the past and taught her to be unreasonable, arrogant, and disdainful of others was the imperial family.
All her arrogance stemmed from their generosity, which they bestowed upon her, even indulging Princess Jingyue's every whim.
But now, with a slight raise of their hands, it was His Majesty and the Empress Dowager who stripped her of all glory and hope, causing her to fall from heaven to hell in an instant.
Love makes one wish for life, hate makes one wish for death.
Consort Zhen must have been navigating the palace step by step for more than ten years and had long since seen through the true meaning of survival in the palace, which is why she said those words just now.
Thinking of this, Song Xizhi suddenly changed his mind again.
Even within the palace walls, there should be no ruthlessness.
If they had any feelings, they would probably have been killed countless times by those flashing swords.
As Song Xizhi was thinking, he came to his senses and realized that everyone in the outer hall had left at some point.
She had followed the emperor into the inner palace, and when she looked up slightly, she saw that familiar face.
He Jingyan lowered his head slightly and leaned against the windowsill.
The window, which had been tightly closed, had been blown open by the wind at some point, and the person next to them, who was not in the mood to stay still, was now creaking and groaning.
The sounds that the people heard outside the hall must have come from this window.
Song Xizhi was lost in thought, not knowing what she was thinking. When she looked up, she met the man's dark eyes, which were as calm and undisturbed as an ancient well.
When their eyes met, the man suddenly concealed everything in his eyes and smiled at her gently.
The emperor was a little tired, so he went straight to the bedside and sat down.
Seeing that Consort Zhen was meek and submissive, not daring to look at anything or ask anything, he wearily offered a few words of explanation.
“This person is trustworthy. Instruct your servants to arrange for them to stay in your side hall tonight, and secretly send them out of the palace tomorrow.”
Consort Zhen nodded, not looking at him much, and not daring to ask any further questions about He Jingyan's identity.
He directly instructed the servants outside to secretly arrange two rooms in the side hall, and then sent Song Xizhi and He Jingyan out.
She hadn't even had time to tidy herself up before she was kneeling by the bed again, serving the emperor by taking off his boots.
Seeing that Consort Zhen had arranged two rooms, it was unclear whether she was genuinely unaware or pretending not to know.
However, Song Xizhi did not offer any further explanation. She only felt physically and mentally exhausted. She had encountered too many things today, so many that her head was starting to throb.
He Jingyan's eyes darkened slightly as he watched Song Xizhi's swaying figure.
After taking a quick bath, Song Xizhi lay down on the bed and drowsily thought for a while, his mind wandering aimlessly.
It all boils down to things related to He Jingyan.
When Song Xizhi sensed the slight movement and opened his eyes, he was shocked to see a man's figure beside the bed.
Her mind went blank for a moment, and she abruptly sat up in bed.
By the moonlight, I looked closely and saw the face that had been on my mind.
He Jingyan.
He Jingyan reached out his large hand and gently smoothed the stray hairs by her temples. He recalled the events of the day, and his eyes seemed to be churning with emotion: "I'm sorry you had to go through this today."
The man's voice was low and hoarse.
Song Xizhi was slightly taken aback, not knowing which matter he was referring to: "Today, it was Consort Zhen who was wronged, I was not wronged at all, but she got what she wanted."
He Jingyan lowered his eyes, then asked in return, "Don't you think everything you've suffered today is a grievance?"
Song Xizhi didn't actually feel wronged, because the suffering she endured in her past life was a hundred or a thousand times greater than in this one. However, staring into the man's eyes, she deliberately asked in return:
"Then what else can I do?"
The man's eyes narrowed, and his hand, which was resting near her temple, paused slightly.
"Feel sorry."
Looking at his appearance, Song Xizhi felt a pang of sadness and didn't want to continue the topic.
So she asked directly, "What did His Majesty say to you when he called you in during the brief moment he was unconscious?"
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